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About 22,000 home health care workers in Washington State will be awarded $57 million in back pay, the result of a Thurston County jury decision delivered on December 20.

From 2003 to 2007, the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) made across-the-board 15 percent pay cuts to people with Medicaid who received care from a home care aide who lived in the consumer’s home.

The reason the state gave for what was called “shared-living-expense cuts” was that tasks performed by the in-home health aides, such as cooking, shopping, and doing laundry, were considered household services that the aides would be doing anyway, according to the Seattle Times.

“The state knew that many of these people had family, relatives, and friends who would take care of them no matter what,” Greg McBroom, who represented the workers, said in the Times. “They knew they could take advantage of them.”

In 2007, however, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the cuts violated federal Medicaid law, which requires that all people with Medicaid benefits be treated equally. The state did not first assess the individual needs of each client as required by law.

Large Sum for Minimum Wage Workers

The workers filed a class action suit against DSHS in 2007, seeking the amount of pay that had been withheld over the years. The award is reported to be the largest damage award against the state.

“The jury, after hearing from both the workers and Medicaid beneficiaries, and from DSHS personnel who implemented the pay reduction, found that DSHS breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing with the workers,” McBroom said. “This case has always been about whether DSHS should pay for work it required these folks to do.”

“While the total recovery is very large, the award to the workers amounts to about $2,500, on average,” said Darrell Cochran, another attorney who represented the workers. “That $2,500 is a very large sum to someone making the minimum wage.”

The state is deciding whether to appeal the jury’s decision, according to Bloomberg News. A statement (pdf) released by one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs says that the state will “probably” appeal the jury’s verdict.

– by Deane Beebe

Tom Daschle

Recent momentum toward health care reform and attention to the needs of the nation’s caregiving needs may be temporarily derailed by the departure of Secretary of Health nominee Tom Daschle. Read the full story

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)

Along with many economists and advocacy organizations, Rep.  Gwen Moore (D-WI) wants to see women’s poverty placed at the very top of the nation’s agenda. And she has exerted her political power as a U.S. representative to pursue this goal by advocating for the inclusion of women in President Obama’s economic stimulus package.

Moore’s passion for supporting low-income women is not just political but personal — She was a teenaged mother who lived on government assistance. Now she’s fighting to narrow the wage gap and increase post-secondary education for women on welfare. Thanks to a writeup at WomensEnews.org, we caught wind of the comments she delivered at the Democratic National Convention on women and poverty, and we tracked her down this week as she was on her way to cast votes in the House. Read the full story

Obama, Daschle, and Lambrew

In a press conference Thursday on the adminstration’s plans to address health care reform, President-Elect Barack Obama officially announced Tom Daschle as his choice for both Secretary of Health and Human Services and director of the new White House Office of Health Reform.

He also named Dr. Jeanne Lambrew, who worked on health policy at the White House from 1997 to 2000, as the deputy director of Health Reform. Read the full story

Voters in Washington State passed Initiative-1029 by a strong margin (73 percent in favor), approving a measure that will require 75 hours of training for most long-term care workers, an increase of as much as 41 hours, according to the Associated Press.

Workers must also now pass an exam to be certified as home care aides and undergo background checks for all levels of care.

The measure was originally intended for action in the legislature, but when lawmakers failed to act, supporters of the initiative succeeded in getting it on the ballot (see our Oct. 16 story). The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has organized the state’s personal care workforce, was behind the initiative along with several consumer organizations.

The measure will go into effect in 2010.

Aaron Toleos, Online Communications Director
atoleos@phinational.org

Advocates for quality direct-care jobs don’t usually find their issues on the ballot, but voters in the state of Washington are being asked to weigh in this year.

The Olympian reports that Initiative 1029—which calls for increased training of workers who provide long-term medical care—is one of the more surprising issues on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

The initiative was originally intended for the legislature, but when lawmakers failed to act, supporters took the issue directly to the people. They collected 300,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

Read the full story